32 LANDSCAPE GARDEN SERIES 



on doing the planting themselves, and then require strict observance of 

 a program of maintenance so thorough that the possibility of loss is 

 reduced to a negligible minimum. 



The plant guarantee is somewhat similar to life insurance or fire 

 insurance, except that it is not based on such a definite foundation of 

 accurate statistics. Experience enables us to ascertain that in an 

 average planting of good nursery stock, well packed, shipped with 

 reasonable dispatch, and carefully planted and cared for, a ten per 

 cent loss is an exceptional maximum to expect assuming that the 

 species selected have been chosen in all sincerity for the purpose and 

 location at hand. 



The high percentage that the purchaser pays as "premium" for a 

 guarantee, added to the cost of each plant he buys under guarantee, 

 amount to considerably more than it would cost him to make his own 

 replacements in the event that he bought the stock at net prices with- 

 out guarantee. The real appeal of the guarantee is that it dispenses 

 with the petty detail of checking up losses, with the attendant bother 

 of identifying unfamiliar plants, ordering and replanting. It amounts 

 to compensation for rendering service which the average busy citizen 

 is only too glad to have someone else perform for him, and deserves 

 to be well paid for. There are, however, many nurserymen who do 

 not relish such petty troubles, and who refuse to guarantee, preferring 

 to sell their stock in quantity at net prices, and stand upon the sincerity 

 of their growing and shipping methods as sufficient guarantee of good 

 faith. 



The cheapest guarantee lies in choosing plants of known hardi- 

 ness; buying nursery grown plants with well-developed masses of 

 fibrous roots from a dependable grower; planting well with a thorough 

 understanding of the requirements of the plants for healthy growth; 

 and proper/}; caring for their needs in respect to watering,, cultivation, 

 mulching or fertilizing for at least two years after planting. Most 

 responsible guarantors require such care as part of the bargain. Why 

 should anyone pay someone else to make him take care of his plants? 



